Some Kind of Heaven finds legitimate pathos within the oddball trappings of a would-be utopian retirement community. From the cold and gloomy vantage of New York’s…
Whole Lotta Red is a versatile, experimental, and grand pop statement from a singular artist in full command of his authorship. Whole Lotta Red is, above…
Lopatin’s patchwork panoply of snippets and songs in collision is kaleidoscopic, peaceful, and placating. The purloined production of Daniel Lopatin’s Magic Oneohtrix Point Never, “recorded”/constructed…
The Album isn’t the mic drop record its title suggests but still mostly thrives on the strength of BLACKPINK’s exuberant stylings. After spending the past couple…
The two volumes of Cuttin’ Grass succeed at the difficult task of making retrospective work feel both new and essential. The concept of the “greatest hits” set…
Cam remains a talent worth following, but The Otherside doesn’t make it clear where she’s going. Since releasing her well-regarded debut, Untamed, in 2015, Cam has released…
Playboi Carti Whole Lotta Red is, above all else, very cool. And as with anything cool being released into the contemporary pop landscape, Playboi Carti’s…
Positions finds Ariana in full superstar mode: as confident, in control, and willing to define herself as she has ever been. After two album cycles that…
My Life 4Hunnid reflects yet a further dip in quality from YG’s long-ago days of Still Brazy. My Life 4Hunnid, YG’s latest, is the type of…
If songs/instrumentals is to mark a pause in Lenker’s prolific output over the past couple years, it’s a fitting and intimate ellipses. After a prolific year that…
The Truckers are no less biting than usual, but The New OK reflects the group’s discernible joy in making a ruckus amidst society’s grimness. The Drive-By Truckers…
The only form CYR represents a return to is Corgan’s familiar, tedious navel-gazing and nostalgic rehash. The year is (was) 2020, and Billy Corgan, the…
The Ultimate Playlist of Noise abandons an interesting conceit for a far more staid one but still manages to be charming enough in spurts. Sound of…
Ariana Grande After two album cycles that culminated in a massive sold-out tour (with multiple headlining dates at major music festivals), Ariana Grande has returned,…
The Dig is a gorgeous effort but entirely sidelines the fascinating psychological and emotional terrain implicit to its narrative. Every niche interest deserves its own movie.…
Outside the Wire boasts enough requisite action fodder to keep things moving, but in failing to meaningfully develop any of its ideas, become little more than…
Locked Down wants to be the film of this pandemic moment but is instead tiresomely repetitive, tonally chaotic, and already outdated. A January 6th puff piece…
The Marksman is a sturdy and uncomplicated but mostly satisfying entry into the Neeson oeuvre of stoic, righteous masculinity. Another exercise in stoicism and dignified masculinity,…
Hunted isn’t a bad film, but the genre aficionados who are likely to seek it out won’t find much genre styling to sustain them. Vincent Paronnaud’s…
Imagine my surprise when a cursory online search revealed that virtually no critic of note has written a modern reassessment of the 1986 serial-killer-road-movie cum…
The timely and harrowing MLK/FBI explores a particular American history that isn’t so safely in the past. The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is…